


the low light

by soniagiris



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe- Ace Attorney Fusion, Amami Rantaro/Momota Kaito - mentioned, Background Case, Gen, Gen Work, Ikusaba Mukuro/Maizono Sayaka - mentioned, Lawyers, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Ikusaba Mukuro, Nonbinary Kirigiri Kyouko, Spoilers, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 10:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11530449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soniagiris/pseuds/soniagiris
Summary: After years and years (read: three months), Shuichi finally gets a case.LIGHT V3 SPOILERS





	the low light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikuzonos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikuzonos/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Trigger Happy Turnabout](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10154606) by [ikuzonos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikuzonos/pseuds/ikuzonos). 



>   * happy birthday to my special grandkiddo <333 may you enjoy the Kaeharas
>   * shot-out to star @dunyazad for beta
> 


Feeling as if the death itself is piggy back riding him, Shuichi moves the chair away from his desk and goes to sit down,  _ fucking finally, _ he thinks—

"Ah, Saihara-kun, could you—?"

He's one centimeter away from getting some rest on the cheap leather, for God's sake—! For a moment, Shuichi entertains the thought he has gone deaf,  _ so  _ sorry, Maizono-san … 

"Coming!" he says anyway, because even after all the abuse he had to suffer through today, he still, deep down, believes he should help humanity. Well. Usually. 

Inside her office, Maizono-san is lounging on the couch, a case file dangling from her slender fingers. For once, her eyes don't spark with mischievous confidence but are foggy with melancholy. Um.

Not quite willing to pull her back from her reverie, Shuichi sticks his hands in the pockets of his jeans — considering his boss can't be seen without a hoodie, he doesn't really care about the dress code — and looks around.

As usual, his eyes are drawn to an old photo hanging on the wall.

It's always jarring to see Maizono-san in a suit, no matter how many times before he saw that picture. She looks sharp and professional, but also youthful and energetic. Some hair falls on her face, having escaped the tightly knit bun, and she has her hand tucked in another person's crook of an elbow. They're smiling, Maizono-san toothily while the stranger barely lifts the corners of their mouth. But their eyes hold the same look of youthful optimism as Maizono-san's. There's the sign of Courtroom Number Five by their raven-haired head.

"That's Mukuro Ikusaba," Shuichi hears. He turns to face his boss, movement sharp and spooked, and he's about to explain himself somehow, but she raises her hand to cut him off and continues, "They used to work in Prosecutor's Office. If you ask me, they were probably one of the best prosecutors in the past twenty years, but they already left— quite some time ago. We worked against each other, and then together."

Shuichi nods, utterly lost on what on earth is he supposed to say. Finally, he settles for,

"Uh." Which is — ugh. Very eloquent.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, old woman's rambles aren't of interest for youngsters like you," Maizono-san chuckles and sets the file on her lap.

"No, no! It's, uh." It's because you never talk about that period when you used to stand behind the bench and defend the innocent, he doesn't feel brave enough to say.

"Anyway…" Maizono-san gives him a long look, then grins and says, "Guess what!" She clasps her hands together. "We got a case!"

Shuichi raises his brows slightly. It's been over three months since he told (mentally, of course, he's a wimp) his capitalism-loving chiefs to suck it and left their mahogany-smelling and gaudy law office to study under wings of former Courtroom Conqueror. Here insert gasps and whoops of gratulation laced with contempt and envy. 

Yeah, right. No one whooped. His roommate only whacked him over the head and called him an idiot. Bless her, though, good ol' gay Harukawa-san.

Anyway, it's been over three months since that fateful event, and that's their first criminal (hopefully) case got in that time.

"So, where do I go?" Shuichi asks, barely masking his excitement. "Detention Centre?" He can't help but run his fingertips over his beautiful, shiny badge…

"Not exactly," Maizono-san drawls out, to which Shuichi deflates. However, she shakes her head and adds with a smile, handing him the file, "Go to the hospital. The victim's survived, and you can ask him about a thing or two."

"Survived?" Shuichi blinks. "M-Maizono-san, not only that's, uh, the first case since I got here, but it's not a — murder? In this city?" What next, someone actually steals a thing?

"Yes, I'm surprised too," Maizono-san replies. "But check this out, in the file…" When he opens it — only one sheet of paper, well — she points at one line of text. "The suspect of this assault-slash-attempted-murder is a cop. A relatively new one, at that. Makes it all more interesting, huh?"

Shuichi wrinkles his nose in thought, then looks at Maizono-san.

"Wait. How do you know that?" He shakes the file. "How did you get that?"

"I have my sources," Maizono-san says cryptically, then pats him on the shoulder. "Now run along."

He does. Well, not literally, the hospital's too far away to go there by foot. He bikes there, instead. 

To no surprise, he isn't allowed to talk with the victim Just Yet (the nurse says it so slowly he feels the capitalization in his bones). He's still undergoing examinations, and after that will be distressed so you can talk to him, tomorrow, kid. (Shuichi baffles at that and almost shows off his badge, but then realizes he already did that).

To more of his surprise, waiting in the corridor is Kirigiri, yes, that Inspector Kyoko Kirigiri, Queen of Absolutes. And she even recognizes him!

"Oi, Saihara-kun," she calls softly when Shuichi leaves the nurses' room with a frown. "Are you perhaps taking this case?"

"W-what—" Then it clicks. Kirigiri-san and Maizono-san are acquaintances, after all. She could have been the source his boss mentioned…

"Yes, I am," Shuichi affirms as he bows politely. Then he cocks his head and asks," Are you going to partake in the investigation?"

"No can do," she mutters, almost biting at the vowels, and leans against the wall. She's not wearing her (absolutely) immaculate uniform, but a stretched out t-shirt with an (absolutely) ironic print she probably did herself — because Shuichi can't think of any places which sell garments with the text "i'm post-gender" scribbled on it in sharpie — and (absolutely) loose jeans. (See how she got her nickname? Nothing about Kirigiri-san is half-arsed). Her ponytail is falling apart, and she has bite marks on her gloves. Her gaze is full of worry.

"Is the victim someone you know?" Shuichi asks gently, making her snap out of her daze and make a face at him, then — nod.

"Amami-kun is my brother's boyfriend, so I knew him for about five years, maybe even more." She rubs her brow. "So the chief didn't allow me to take this case 'cause she thought I might get — pah! — vindictive." 

"I'm sorry," Shuichi says quietly, not looking her in the eye. The detective only shrugs.

"Not your fault, not mine, not chief's. The law is the law, but you know it the best, mister attorney." She rests her hand on her hip and looks away. "Anyway, I'm not gonna get pissed at you for taking the case, if that worries you."

It kind of did, to be honest. No one in the city would like to get at Kirigiri's bad side. She had the best marks in the shooting range, as the rumor says, once kicked a baddie in the shin so hard she broke the bone, and has friends on the other side of the ocean. And now — she looks sad. Tired. But hopeful.

"I'm not worried," Shuichi replies, because he's not, anymore. "And — please take care, Kirigiri-san."

"You too, kid," Kirigiri-san gives him half of a smile. Shuichi bows, again, and leaves the ICU ward.

The ride to the detention center is a bit longer, with a hill on the way, and a car almost runs over him, so, when Shuichi goes to the visitor's room, he can't help but slump a bit, put his head between his knees and breathe heavily. Fuck. He'd give anything for a cab home and a cold drink. Or two.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Someone taps the bulletproof glass slicing the room in half, so he quickly straightens up and—

Wow. 

"G-good evening," he manages, somehow. 

Is that girl — shoot, he forgot her name — really a cop? She looks more like — like an artist, a painter or maybe a pianist, with her long, elegant fingers resting on the glass. She's not even wearing a proper police force attire, merely a hoodie with jeans. Well. Not like Shuichi looks much better, but... 

And boy does she look young. And innocent.

"Good evening," the girl replies smoothly, pulling her hand away. "Why are you here?"

Straight to the basis. Hm. And her eyes narrow, taking on a more calculating tint. Now she does look like a fledgling detective.

"M-my name is Shuichi Saihara, and I'm a defense attorney from Maizono Agency—" the girl raises her brows at the name "—and I'd like to ask you about the events of this morning."

"I see..." She taps her upper lip in thought, then says, "So you want to be my lawyer?"

"I-if you are innocent, then yes, indeed." Shuichi puts the case file (wasn't transporting it on a bike a blast) and his phone on the table, then interlaces his fingers. "Would you mind, then...?"

"Not a problem," says — Shuichi sneaks a peek at the file — Akamatsu-san, then clears her throat and starts her story.

Jotting down the crucial points, Shuichi tries not to lose himself in Akamatsu-san's melodious voice, but to focus on the task beforehand. So the victim was found by her just by the doors to her apartment, a bloodied bowling ball by his head, and her fingerprints were found on the scene. Huh. It's entirely possible she touched the ball by accident, but considering the lack of other suspects and the general rush to solve such cases as quickly as possible... Shuichi frowns. Generally speaking, Akamatsu-san's tale is coherent and fits the timeline, so he's free to think of her as innocent and — take her case.

When he announces that, he doesn't get the expected smile. Instead, Akamatsu-san sighs deeply and rubs her temple.

"Either way, I can probably say goodbye to my career, so..."

"Why? If I prove you were just an unfortunate passerby, it shouldn't have further consequences." Shuichi ends the recording and checks his notifications. Maizono-san has sent him a text, a succinct 'victim got amnesia, gl'. Great.

"Labels, Saihara-san, they're unavoidable." Akamatsu-san sighs again and idly draws a pattern on the separating glass with her fingertip. "But thank you anyway..."

"Don't give up, Akamatsu-san," Shuichi says with as much optimism as he can muster out, and, before he thinks better of it, puts his own finger to where hers is. If it weren't for the glass, they'd be touching.

Huh.

"Not planning on it," Akamatsu-san says after a brief pause. "Not with such a positive lawyer I got here."

"That's not something I hear often," Shuichi mutters, then shakes it off and smiles, just like Maizono-san told him. Smile so they will see you're not about to acquiesce. 

And, somehow, with Akamatsu-san returning that expression, it feels like he means it, this time.

**Author's Note:**

> a/n
> 
>   * uhhhhhhhhhhh remember how i used to write fics on used receipts? i. i did it again. hecking. (but that was the last time lmao)
>   * title from owl city's 'the saltwater room'
>   * this is lightly inspired both by aa4 and vee's fic 'trigger happy turnabout'. guys. pals. please read this fic and make sure to give feedback promise me ok *kitten eyes*
>   * also - please [check out this ikuzono discord](https://discord.gg/Q9beAZ3), we make memes and cry a lot it's fun i promise
>   * also uhhhhhhh i'm in p5 hell rn so expect me to write smth for it too (either yusuke angst or team fluff, vote on ur phones)
> 



End file.
